The different degrees of SMART

Where I come from, there are two kinds of "smart". There's common sense - otherwise known as "street smarts". The other is book sense, aka "book smarts". There have been many a heated debate about which is more important for a child to have. My opinion is that it should be a perfect combination of the two. A lot of times what you see however, is one or the other.

Which leads me to my oldest two, DJ and Starr, boy and girl respectively. Both of them are straight A students. DJ is in the 4th grade and loves school. School loves him back by giving him teachers yearly that adore him! Great little system the two have worked out. Starr, though only 17 months younger than DJ but with a late birthday is in 2nd grade now. I saw her first quarter grading report while conferencing with her teacher and had to explain the look on my face. "I'm sorry," I said "I'm just not used to seeing B's!" They have both been selected to be in their school's Challenge class program, Starr being the only one chosen in her class. DJ has a gift for writing, while DJ is more artistically inclined. Yes, I'm bragging and yes, I'm spoiled because they are just so smart!! Probably between the two of them is a cure for cancer, at the very least. Then after that, they could solve world hunger and achieve world peace later.

What? It could happen!

The drawback to all this brainpower? A serious deficiency in common sense. Yes, I can admit it, it's pretty bad. The title "space cadet" has found a home on my daughter...as it did her mother so many years ago. Starr, I am convinced, has ADD (attention deficit disorder). Nope, not taking her to the doctor just for that. Those that her know her best call it "StarrWorld" when she spaces out the way she does. DJ, well, he has testosterone as his shortcoming. He can "manlook" like the best of them! What's "manlook"-ing? Ask your husband or boyfriend to find something that you put nearly right in front of them...except you put something on top of it! Example: the jewelry box on your dresser, but you tossed a scarf on it! He'll come back and say "I can't find it!" That is "manlook"-ing. I am working with the two of them to hopefully even out the balance a bit. Perhaps they can pick up on the common sense things a little earlier than I did. Yeah, she got the SpaceCadet trait from me!

Now the Wondertwins? Totally street smarts, and they're only 3 and 2! I don't know what school is going to be like, as I do have a few years for that. Thank goodness because when Bruzer gets into school, I'll need to be self-employed for the flexibility required to be in the principal's office so much! As far as grades, I am definitely hoping they inherited Mommy's smarts. Their father was most definitely gifted with an overabundance of street smarts, which of course caused a serious deficit on the book smart (and relationship!) end. It became commonplace for me to have to define a word I had just said to him. He couldn't even get it from the context of the sentence! So between his abundant supply of street smarts and my more-than-ample book smarts, those two crazy kids may just have a shot!

So then while DJ and Starr are taking care of cancer, world hunger, and peace on earth, Champagne and Bruzer will have built successful corporations from the ground up and be their older siblings' major research contributors. Everybody knows that entrepreneurs need both street and book smarts to be successful at what they do. Or at least they do now. Meanwhile, Mommy will be living out her years fairly well to do (thanks to the kids of course) somewhere in one of the warmer southern states, and travelling rather extensively whenever I get the itch to get away.

What?!

It could happen, you know!